ASIA’S newly crowned idol Hady Mirza will have his first public performance since his big win at a New Year countdown show on Monday night.But if you think it’s at a glitzy do, think again.Hady will be singing in the heartlands. More specifically, in a field in Punggol, near his home.Together with fellow Hype Records labelmates Rui En and Jonathan Leong, he will be belting out three songs to an estimated crowd of 10,000, including a duet with Mr Michael Palmer, an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.The gig is organised by Punggol East Citizen’s Consultative Committees and its grassroots organisations.

IN AN acting stable filled with sweet young things, Rui En is a breath of fresh air with her edgy dressing and nonchalant love for the colour black.Eschewing pretty frocks for sexy pants, designer labels for vintage fare, the 26-year-old MediaCorp artiste needs no help from style gurus to make a fashion statement.Which is why she has earned a spot in our list of top 10 fashion icons this year, which honours those who have defied sartorial conventions and proved that innovation is way more fun than imitation.

These are the people who defied fashion conventions and created their own styles this year

In the world of fashion where trends come and go swiftly, the element of surprise is a highly prized asset.

The ones who stood out this year turned the rules upside down (a boy wearing make-up became hot, a geek became cool), defied expectations (cute hairstyles transformed near has-beens into trend-setters) and proved that innovation is way more fun than imitation.

The bottomline: Our list of 10 new fashion icons (in no particular order) were those whom you couldn’t stop looking at or talking about.

Rui En (above, right), 26

She may be one of MediaCorp’s Seven Princesses, but froufrou frocks don’t make the cut for this cool customer.

Instead of making high-end designer gowns resemble This Fashion bargain-bin finds like many of her colleagues, the singer-actress stands out for the matter-of-fact way she sticks to what she likes when it comes to style.

That usually means wearing pants rather than dresses, a nonchalant preference for the colour black and high-street brands rather than haute couture.

Just like last year, she chose to wear her own togs to the recent Star Awards (above), pairing a H&M jacket with Aldo shoes and latex tights bought online for $200. The whole outfit probably cost less than one of the gem-encrusted baubles on Fann Wong, but Rui En made it work with her take-me-as-I-am personality.

And fans seem to have no problem with that. While the fortunes of the other princesses rise and fall, she’s made the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes list for three years running. Which just goes to show that you don’t always need David Gan’s magic style wand to make it in this town.

The stars who chose to dress themselves instead of relying on couture labels fared better in the style stakes.WHILE the seven princesses did not sweep MediaCorp’s Star Awards on Sunday night as many had anticipated, most of them did pretty well in the style stakes.Rui En, who jokingly called herself “a fashionista on a budget”, eschewed stylists for her own too-cool-for-school all-black ensemble of a H&M jacket, rocker-chic latex tights and Aldo shoes.